If you are sick of hearing the term "nanny state", there may be a good reason.
University of Otago (Wellington) researcher Dr George Thomson told the Public Health Association conference in Dunedin this week the expression had been increasingly used in the New Zealand media in the past five years, reaching a high point in the 2008 election year, when it turned up in 386 articles.
It was frequently used to describe public health initiatives relating to tobacco and alcohol use and obesity.
The term was associated with smoking between 1988 and 2005, but from 2006 it was most likely to be associated with obesity.
The highest number of nanny state references to smoking was 20 in 2003, with obesity references totalling 31 in 2008.
Dr Thomson also looked at other uses of negative language such as "political correctness" and "bureaucracy", but found "nanny state" was more widely used in relation to health initiatives.
Media articles in New Zealand and the United Kingdom had significantly higher uses of all three terms than the rest of the world.
"The increased use of these terms appears to be driven by industries that are afraid of increased control over the marketing of unhealthy products."
Speaking after his address, Dr Thomson said his advice to people hearing such terms as "nanny state" was they should be sceptical.
It was a signal someone was likely to be trying to fool them.
By using the terms, they were not trying to use a rational argument but to move arguments away from themselves and blame others.
There was a need to use language which described public health activity as stewardship which protected people; language which looked beyond slogans and the stereotyping of opposition to unhealthy products.
Governments which allowed damage to the public were creating the "ninny state", following corporate welfare policies, rather than the common good, Dr Thomson said.
Next year, 500 schools will be surveyed to see how well they are protecting pupils from sunburn, which can increase the risk of melanoma in later life.
University of Otago public health researcher Jan Jopson told the conference the research would follow a 2005 study which showed none of 242 schools surveyed met all 12 criteria for the Cancer Society's National SunSmart Schools Accreditation Programme.
Criteria included school policies and practices on hats and clothing, curriculum content, role modelling, provision of shade and organising outdoor activities outside high ultraviolet radiation times.
The director of the Cancer Society Social and Behavioural Research Unit at the Dunedin School of Medicine, Dr Tony Reeder, said the wearing of suitable hats and clothing were among the most difficult criteria for schools.
Only 44% of schools required pupils to wear suitable hats.
Researchers were pleased schools appeared to be taking the SunSmart message more seriously.
Ms Jopson said more than 300 schools had received Sunsmart accreditation, having met all 12 criteria.
The three-day conference ends today.
The morning's sessions will include issues related to tobacco use and transport.
